


The Empress and The Monster

by MrCynical



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassination Attempt(s), Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, High Chaos Corvo Attano, Insanity, Low Chaos Emily Kaldwin, Negotiations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-05 08:45:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13384272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrCynical/pseuds/MrCynical
Summary: Emily Kaldwin has seen many horrible things in her life. Her mother, impaled on an assassin's sword. The cruel treatment of the servants at the Golden Cat. Havelock murdering her caretakers. Above all else, however, was the sight of the butcher Corvo had become in her absence.AKA, a what-if story about Emily being horrified by high-chaos Corvo instead of becoming Emily the Vengeful. First attempt at a fully serious story, so please let me know what you think! Updates will likely be sporadic, as this is a side project while my other Dishonored story is my main focus at the moment.





	1. Awakening

**_12th Day, Month of Nets_ **

When Emily had awoken from her magic-induced slumber, despite how confused and disorientated she was, she had taken comfort in her father’s presence. She initially didn't question why something felt deeply wrong, assuming it was just an after-effect of being trapped in stone. Not even Corvo’s bloodshot, darkened eyes or the gruesome remains of Delilah sprawled out across the throne room could change the relief she had felt.

Of course, that had began to change as he proceeded to tell her about all that had happened since she was frozen, about how he’d cut the throats of any and all who’d wronged them or gotten in his way. While she absolutely agreed with the brutal end he’d given Ramsey for murdering Alexi, she couldn’t help but empathize for the dozens of nameless guards, and especially for Doctor Hypatia. She knew first hand what it was like to be an unwitting pawn, and the fact that she had been such a good woman made the empress wish there was another way.

… There couldn’t have been another way, right? Surely Corvo would have spared her if he could. Surely he didn’t shove a sword through her just to sate his own bloodlust. Kaldwin banished the thought, angry with herself for even considering that. After all, she had been rescued by Corvo Attano, the best man she had ever known. Who was she to judge his actions when she wasn't there? Of course there was no other way.

As he went on, however, she found that harder and harder to believe. From the way he talked about frying Jindosh’s mind before killing him, or similarly stripping Ashworth of her magic just to make her break down while he gutedt her made her skin crawl with unease. The man she knew reviled torture, yet the one before her spoke of it with the same joyful smile he wore when they’d play hide and seek in the gardens in her younger days. The more he spoke, the sicker she felt, realizing with every passing second that _he_ was the sense of dread pooling in her stomach. All the while, Corvo kept talking about all the different people he'd butchered as casually as if they were discussing the weather. This grim reflection of her father certainly wasn’t the same man who had saved her from the Pendletons, nor the one who had stood back to back with her when her guards attacked her on the day twice stained with betrayal.

He had started talking about how he’d fed the writer of the Dunwall Courier to the rats for implicating them, much to his daughter's horror. It was only when Emily couldn't keep her disgust from her face that he stopped. “Are you alright, Emily?” He asked with genuine fatherly concern in his tone. She studied him intently, noticing the ceaseless twitching of his fingers and the dried blood staining his blue and grey uniform a sickly black, the decaying liquid almost certainly not his. The stench of death perfumed the entirety of Dunwall Tower, but the Royal Protector seemed to ooze it. She carefully formed her response, wanting to believe he’d never hurt her, but left unsure with everything else he’d done.

“... Father… you’ve always taught me the value of mercy. Of solving problems without bloodshed, even when my enemy deserves death. You showed me a better way… so why did you abandon it? Why did you choose to kill so many when you once consistently chose mercy?” She questioned, hesitant at first but becoming more confident with every word. He sighed, shaking his head.

“Because I was wrong, Em. I was too weak to do what was needed to protect you from the coup, from _Delilah_ ,” He spat, glaring at the dead witch. “And we all paid the price for it. If I’d done something to stop those damn newspapers from framing us, or took action instead of letting parliament waste our time with endless debates, this coup would never have happened! I failed you, like I failed Jessamine, and I can _never_ let that happen again. I won’t,” Corvo finished, gruff voice shaking ever so slightly. In what seemed like a mere split-second to Emily, he steeled himself, the tell-tale Mark of the Outsider burning through his wrapping as he ended Stop Time. “This world took her away from us, and I forgave it. In turn, it almost took you from me. I won’t make the same mistakes again. I’ll bury everyone in the empire if it means keeping you safe.”

The Empress sat quietly on her throne, ruminating on his response. She’d be lying if she said a part of her didn’t agree with her father, the shock and hurt of the coup that felt like mere days prior making her glad he’d made them all suffer, but she couldn’t shake her better thoughts, memories of Corvo handing her a real sword for the first time at only 13 and teaching her how to kill, and more importantly, how not to. Or the day she found out he’d spared Daud, marching into his office yelling and screaming in betrayal, hitting him over and over until she was too exhausted to continue, Corvo embracing her sobbing form as he quietly explained himself. Emily slowly shook her head, looking up at him. “You didn’t fail me by being merciful, Corvo. You did what was right, with me and my safety in mind, and did the same for mother. I love you for guiding me and making me the woman I am today, and I always will. But these killings… they’re disgusting. Cruel. Barbaric. Everything you aren’t, everything you refused to be back then! You’re becoming just like-”

“The Crown Killer?” Attano interrupted. “A twisted monster that needs to be locked away? Is that what you think?” He demanded, voice rising and eyes darkening.

“I’m beginning to! Do you even realize what you’re saying, what you’re doing?!” She shouted in horror, dread filling her as she pointed at him accusingly. “You tortured a man to death over a newspaper! You’ve spent the last three hours talking about how you’ve butchered everyone who got in your way, and I’m afraid to think that you might have gone _out_ of your way to kill some of them! Don’t you see what you’re becoming?!”

He stood still, silently waiting for her to finish. These old mannerisms only made her grief for what had become of her father grow. Finally, he spoke, almost too quiet to hear. “Then do it.”

“... What?”

“Arrest me for my crimes. Lock me in Coleridge and throw away the key. It’s what you’d do with any other killer, isn’t it? It’s the only way it stops.”

Emily tried to speak, but found herself at a loss for words. It was true, that’s what she’d done to every other murderer once their trial was over with. But… to send her own father to prison? She wasn’t sure she could do that. She couldn’t just let it slide, either. She sighed, gently gripping Corvo’s shoulder. “I’d never do that to you. I know you’re a good man at heart, but… you’re not well, father. The Corvo Attano I knew wouldn’t have done the things you have. Please, stop this madness. No more killing, no more of this,” Emily said, waving towards the disemboweled and disfigured corpse that used to be her aunt, void-summoned rats quietly feasting. “No more of the Royal Executioner. Promise me,” She pleaded, begging eyes staring into his animalistic ones.

For a short eternity, the two waited in tense silence, not as the terror of Dunwall and the disgraced empress but as father and daughter. The woman searched his eyes for any trace of the man she’d known, his hazel irises altered by madness but still so close to the ones she remembered. The room was unnaturally quiet, not even the chaos of the city loud enough to hear. At last, his rough voice finally rumbled out, “I won’t make promises I can’t keep. If it comes down to it, I’ll do whatever I see fit to protect you, no matter whether you approve or not,” He said firmly, before his heavy gaze lightened somewhat. “I know you don’t want this, but it’s what’s needed. Please, let me protect you. Let me do what I couldn't do for Jessamine,” He begged, putting a gentle grip on her arm the same way he always did when comforting her. She froze when she saw the regret in his eyes, the pain that no amount of time could lessen, the same she felt. Her gaze drifted to Delilah’s cold, dead eyes, a bitter satisfaction rising through before it suddenly disappeared as she imagined Delilah’s corpse replaced with anyone else, reminding herself of just how horrible it really was. Turning back to her father, she shook her head.

“I… that’s beneath you, Corvo,” She sighed, closing her eyes. “I can’t let you butcher anyone you want, but I can’t lose you, too. I don’t know what to do with you.” She admitted, voice shaking.

“... If you let me do this, you can do whatever you think is needed. I’ll meet with any doctor or physician you request, and I’ll try to be more forgiving, if it's what’s needed to prove to you I’m not some mindless monster,” Attano offered. She looked up at him, and saw the remnant she was looking for: his compassion. Emily stood up, moving to lightly hug him, the man reciprocating it.

“Thank you,” She whispered. “I’ll save you from this, no matter what it takes. I swear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The game mentions that Emily/Corvo have been in Karnaca for a month at the beginning of The Grand Palace, so adding in the additional 2 weeks of travel time, I ended up with the 12th of the 3rd month. Could be wrong, though. Please let me know what you think of this story!


	2. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corvo's actions in Karnaca begin to catch up to the crown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for how long it took to update this! For quite some time I simply didn't have the motivation, and then when I did I became busy with my other story and personal business. But, here we are! I hope you enjoy!

**12th Day, Month Of Rain**

A month to the day Emily was freed from stone and she  _ still  _ couldn't bring herself to relax. Between the destruction and chaos wrought by Delilah and Corvo, the empire was in shambles with rumors of Karnaca descending into anarchy, the once-lavish city going up in flames and bloodflies. While Morley had agreed to a truce, the war hadn’t actually been resolved, leaving fears of a second Morlish revolt. Tyvia had thankfully been more cooperative, formally suing for peace after her reinstatement had been confirmed. Still, that didn’t change the fact that at least thousands of her subjects had perished in the mere month of Delilah’s rule and thousands more were left terrified of her after Corvo’s bloody quest for revenge. That had made rebuilding the city an even more arduous task by making several citizens hide or fight her men the same as Delilah’s, her name sullied beyond repair. Even if the Dunwall Courier had enough staff alive to issue a retraction, nobody would believe it with Corvo’s blade at the throat of anyone would so much as breathe in her direction. The public saw them as either murderers or a woman living in terror of her father, and Attano had played right into that. A part of the empress wondered if that was Delilah's plan all along; have one of them snap and become everything she claimed. If so, the witch once again got her wish.

Despite her best efforts, she’d had no luck reaching anyone who could help her father’s madness. Hypatia was dead, Sokolov might as well have been after cutting off ties with everyone and practically dropping off the face of the earth, and Outsider knows where Toksvig went during all the chaos. With so many bright minds dead or in hiding, Kaldwin's concern for the Royal Protector’s mental state grew by the day. While he had managed to stay his blade, he was still harsh and imposing on the best of days and downright abusive to the staff on the worst. One maid had been unfortunate enough to add a little too much sugar to the empress’ tea and found her face roughly shoved against the counter while he demanded to know what she was trying to do for her troubles. Emily was enraged when she found out, but that didn't remove the woman’s bruises or keep her from shuddering and sputtering in despair for days after the fact.

To make things worse, that very man was currently giving death glares to what remained of her advisory board, freezing the poor bastards in in place from fear. She sipped her room-temperature tea, her paranoid butcher of a father forcing any surviving maid her could find to be a cup-bearer, presumably threatening to hang them by their entrails otherwise. She set the cup down with a sigh, glaring at her father. “Would you  _ please  _ stop looking at them like that? It’s unnerving. In fact, please just wait outside,” She ordered, his suspicious gaze flicking to her. She could tell he was biting his lip, instead responding with a nod. He’d undoubtedly be watching their meeting with those damn magic eyes of his, but that’s not what mattered right now. Once he finally vanished behind the door, Leonora Helmswater practically fainted, visibly quite shaken.

“Is he gone?” She whispered, Emily nodding in confirmation. After a few moments, she finally collected herself, though she was still noticeably unnerved. “Lady Emily, I have faithfully and proudly served the Kaldwins since the time of your grandfather, but I’m afraid I must resign if I have to spend one more day living in fear like this! I understand that the Lord Protector is concerned for your safety, especially in light of recent events, but… frankly, your majesty, I can’t keep living each day wondering if this will be the one I say or do something wrong and die for it. I understand he’s your father, but as long as he is still your Royal Protector, I cannot continue serving you.” She announced, voice growing from a timid, almost incomprehensible mumble to a bold and unapologetic statement of fact, met with silence until murmurings of agreement began filling the room leaving Emily feeling even more dreadful than normal.

“Ms. Helmswater… Leonora, you’ve been here for longer than I’ve been empress! I need you as much as I need Corvo-”

An older man interrupted with a scoff somewhere between amusement and annoyance. “You don’t need him. He needs you. Anyone can be your bodyguard, but only you can be his daughter,” One Oliver Vogel said casually, making the room quiet enough to her a pin drop.

“Have you forgotten where you are, Lord Vogel? How dare you say such things so brazenly?”

He sighed, tapping his cigar into an ashtray. “l was recently made aware that I am dying. Forty years of drinking finally took its toll. The doctor says I have five months at most. Lord Corvo certainly doesn’t bother hiding his thoughts these days, so I figure I might as well too,” Oliver replied, shocking the room.

“I… I’m sorry to hear, Lord Vogel.” She said, feeling stupid for not being able to come up with any other response. He gave an acknowledging hum as he took a drag from the tobacco before blowing out.

“I know you are, because you aren’t the one who looks at us and thinks about where to hide the bodies. You are a good, brilliant woman Lady Emily, but whether you do it out of love or fear or both, keeping Corvo Attano anywhere but a jail cell is dangerous for himself and others!”

Even for a dying man, his brazen honesty was like a punch in the face to the empress. She sat there looking stunned while everyone except Oliver looked like they were afraid Corvo would just suddenly appear and cut their heads off. She finally came back to her senses, shaking her head. “I understand your concerns, but I assure you, I’m doing everything I can to restore the Lord Protector’s sanity. Locking him in Coldridge will only make things worse. I am  _ not  _ afraid of my own father.”

The room was as silent as the grave, waiting in dread for whatever came next. Try as she might, Emily couldn't help but tap against the table, a nervous habit from her childhood. She could hear her heart beating as she mentally prepared herself for the fact that someone in this room might die in front of her. The brazen aristocrat was studying her and they both knew it. “Is this the face of a woman who isn’t afraid, your majesty? Are those the eyes of someone at peace?” He questioned, Kaldwin hating her eyes for betraying her.

_ “Damn it! Stop this nonsense! If they know-THINK you are afraid, they’ll panic,” _ She scolded herself, closing her eyes and taking a breath. “I will speak with him. Leonora, I ask that you reconsider your resignation in the meantime. This meeting is adjourned,” She announced, rising from her chair. Nobody looked particularly impressed with her, but they didn't object. The empress tried to ignore both the glares and looks of pity she felt boring into her back as she walked through the halls to her chambers. Guards that she’d once been good friends with now refused to meet her gaze, whether it be fear of Corvo or hatred of her, she couldn’t tell. Perhaps they were one in the same.

Her actual chambers were still locked down while the Abbey purged it of heresy, black vines and tree roots still covering much of the tower and even the city as a whole. In the meantime, Corvo's quarters were hers, the room somehow managing to be one of the least damaged overall. The man in question seemed to have vanished, but she knew full well what it felt like to have his hawkish gaze upon her. Whether he was above them or in the walls, he was most certainly watching her. Biting her lip, she picked up her pace, wanting nothing more than to just rest.

***

**_13th Day, Month Of Rain_ **

It was the first time Emily had held court since the coup, and Emily wasn’t sure she’d ever dreaded it this much before. The people of Dunwall demanded to see their empress, commoners and aristocrats alike wanting answers about the stability of the empire.

“This is a waste of time,” Corvo complained, leaning against the doorway while Emily studied herself in the mirror. “What do any of them know about running a city, let alone an empire?”

Emily frowned as she turned to him. “What do I know? As you’ve repeatedly pointed out, I was lazy at best,” She replied, making his features soften.

“You were hardly the only one to blame.”

She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “There's no point in assigning blame anymore. All I can do is try to clean our mess, and that starts by addressing the people,” Kaldwin announced as she started towards the door to the Throne Room. Corvo stuck out a hand to block her path.

“You don’t owe  _ them  _ a thing. You’re their empress.”

“That is precisely why I owe them everything, father!” She shot back, the Royal Protector hesitating for a moment before letting his hand fall.

“You’re far too much like _her_ for your own good,” He muttered, Emily sharing a sympathetic look with him before bolstering her resolve and opening the door. The clamoring room went dead silent in an instant, the all too familiar feeling of dread filling the room, the same feeling that had been there even before she became a statue. Dozens if not hundreds of questioning eyes were glued to her as she walked to her throne, never quite as comfortable as it used to be. When she was in position, Corvo took his place by her side. “The court is now in session!” He announced, the first of them stepping up.

To her surprise, it was going incredibly smoothly. Over halfway through court, and Corvo had not once interrupted, threatened, or harmed someone. He stood so quietly that the empress periodically glanced at him to see if he was still there. As it went on, people even seemed to become less intimidated by her, hawkish gazes turning into more politely interested looking. For a moment, the woman thought that it might be the beginning of a brighter chapter, that she might be able to move on from her own past incompetence and her father’s bloodshed. The next one to come up was a younger woman with somewhat pale skin, ratty brown hair covering her eyes. She wore a dirtied white shirt under a long leather coat, appropriate for the harsh weather of Dunwall in the early months of the year. Her arms were crossed, almost hugging herself. She stood in silence, unnerving Emily.

“Are you alright?” She asked. The woman slowly looked up at her, her green eyes tinged somewhat red. 

“No, your majesty. I haven’t been since that man murdered my little sister,” She said, pointing at Corvo. Every eye in the room was planted firmly on the Royal Protector. “Aurora Russo. She worked as a maid for Kirin Jindosh. She was making his tea when you showed up… by the time they found her body, there wasn’t enough left to bury. I’ve come all the way from the smoldering ashes that used to be Karnaca to ask you this: Why? Why kill her of all people? That’s all I want to know,” The surviving Russo demanded, tears forming and threatening to escape. Of all the people scrutinizing Corvo, Emily was the most damning. Her gaze was heavy with horrified disapproval and disgust, eyes widening.

He regarded the distraught commoner coolly. “Court is over,” He said, colder than Tyvian ice as he grabbed Emily’s shoulder to force her out of the room. She shoved his hand off of her, forcing herself to appear calm despite her bubbling anger.

“Wrong answer, you bastard!” Russo shouted, uncrossing her arms and revealing a pistol which immediately found itself pointed at Emily’s head. The room went into uproar while Corvo was already drawing his sword. “Tell me why, or I’ll kill her!”

Just before Corvo would have stopped time and shoved a blade into the woman, Emily grabbed his hand and thus pulling her out of time with him. “Stop!” She ordered, Corvo snapping to her.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” He shouted, trying to pull out of her grip. The empress refused, maintaining her vice grip.

“Saving that woman’s life!  Nobody has to die today. Is she telling the truth?”

“I don’t have time for this-”   
“IS. SHE. LYING?!” Emily shrieked, getting out of her throne and looking him in the eyes.

“... I don’t know,” He admitted, looking at the victim's frozen form. “But it doesn’t matter now. She’s threatening you, so she dies.”

The look of pure disgust on his daughter’s face was enough to stop even him. “You don’t know?! What, did you kill so many people that you can’t even remember their faces anymore?!”

“It’s not like that!” He said defensively, making her glare intensify.

“Then what is it like, Corvo? This woman says you murdered her sister and you can’t even remember one way or the other. Kill her, and she’ll just be one more nameless, faceless corpse to add to your mountain.”

He wasn’t impressed, rolling his eyes at the aristocrat pleading to save her own would-be assassin’s life. “What would you suggest then,  _ your majesty _ ?” He spat out, using her title like an insult. She didn’t allow herself to fall to the bait, however.

“Let me talk to her. She doesn’t want to kill me, not truly. If she did, she would have shot me already. She’s still one of my subjects and so was her sister. Give me a chance to end this peacefully.”

He scoffed at her, giving a glare of his own. “No. I’m not going to let you get yourself killed over some fantasy of a perfect happy ending,” He gruffly retorted, trying to pry her hand off of him. She desperately maintained her grip, grabbing with her other hand to make it more difficult. “The last time I let you try to reason with a woman that hated us, you became a damn statue! Why are you even trying to keep her alive?”

“Because the Corvo I knew, the one that's saved my life more times than I can count, would have neutralized her without spilling blood. That man fades more and more with every person you butcher,” Emily said, managing to pause him. “This isn’t just about her life, but yours as well. Please, father,” The woman pleaded, gazing into his darkened eyes. Unknowable thoughts raced behind his hazel irises while the world remained trapped in time around them. After an eternity, he finally spoke.

“Two minutes. You have two minutes to make her lower her gun before I reunite her with her sister,” He grumpily conceded, face hard with irritation. Emily let herself relax just a little as she let out a sigh of relief. “If she pulls the trigger before then, she’s dead.”

“Duly noted. Thank you,” She replied, lowering herself back into her throne with one hand still gripping Corvo. While Corvo’s witchcraft wasn’t much of a secret after the coup, Russo might be scared into pulling the trigger if she noticed him using it. Time resumed in a cavalcade of noise, mostly continued screaming from those in attendance. The woman’s tearful glare was still burning into the monarch and her father, pistol shaking in her grasp. 

“What was your sister-, no, Aurora like?” Emily asked, making a suspicious look come to the gunwoman’s face.

“What do you care? If you gave a shit about the people he killed, he wouldn't be standing here right now!”

“I ruled over her. If she died because of my failures, I should know who I’ve hurt,” She explained, attempting to get up but being forced back by her steadying her aim at her.

“Stay down,” The brown-haired assassin threatened, looking a tad lost in thought before speaking again. “She was smart, smart enough to be a governess for some of the richer families. That worked well for a while, until there just weren’t enough people hiring and she had to become a maid. Aurora was the sweetest woman you could ever meet,” She fondly recalled, a sad ghost of a smile coming to her lips. “She’d never hurt anyone. Especially wouldn’t hold her empress at gunpoint. She was always loyal to you, even after you were overthrown. The fact that your father killed someone on your side would be funny if it weren't so horrifying!” The mystery woman ranted.

Emily was counting the seconds with dread while she suspected Corvo was impatiently doing the same. _ “About a minute left to save her,”  _ Kaldwin thought to herself. “I imagine she’d want you to live a long life. Right?” 

“There isn’t a life without her. Even if there was, there’s no chance of it now.”

45 seconds left. Emily dared to rise again, the woman not bothering to threaten her again. “If you lay your gun down now, I promise I will pardon you, but only if you don’t hurt anyone. You can still get justice for Aurora the right way. It’s only too late if you pull the trigger,” She pleaded, slowly inching closer. Russo was shaking, her gun swinging and clattering in her unsteady grip. Her tears were freely falling at this point, blurring her vision as she stared at the woman she’d been planning to kill for two months. “Do what she would.” Emily whispered, less than a foot away from her. Finally, she closed her eyes and grit her teeth.

The gun tumbled to the ground with a thump, the woman who held it falling to her knees and sobbing. Emily slid the pistol away from them with her foot, making sure her bodyguard saw it was out of reach.  _ “One second to spare,” _ She counted, finally letting her shoulders slump in relief. Corvo looked on in silent disapproval, but she couldn’t care less. She’d saved a life, and almost more importantly, kept Corvo from taking another. The empress didn't even notice the audience that had watched on, nor how Corvo silently retrieved the weapon and started inspecting it.

***

**_Hours Later_ **

Several exhausting hours of dealing with the fallout of her would-be assassin, including the promised pardon, Emily practically collapsed onto her bed, willing to sleep fully clothed if it meant she could get to it sooner. Alas, the familiar  _ whoosh  _ of Blink being used  caught her attention, alerting her to Corvo's presence. “Is there a reason you didn't just use the door?” She questioned, getting up to face him. He was wearing that damned mask of his, though whether it was to hide his identity or warn anyone who saw him not to interfere she couldn't tell anymore.

“Dunwall Tower has the tightest security in all the empire. Does it seem reasonable to you that someone was able to sneak a gun in just by wearing a coat?” He said, ignoring her question and tossing the woman’s pistol to her. She caught it, glancing at the unremarkable weapon until a familiar symbol caught her eye.

“This is the Royal Guard’s model,” She realized, the seal of the house of Kaldwin professionally carved into the polished wooden handle.

“Your little friend was working with someone on the inside to do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Zireza doesn't mind that I stole a couple things from TDE for this. Speaking of which, massive shoutout to the story "The Domino Empress" for getting me in the mood to write this again.


End file.
